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Being released August 25, 2017 on Ruf Records, veteran British
Blues band Savoy Brown's Witchy
Feelin' proves the Devil still has all the best
tunes. From the
 thrillingly
brittle guitar riff that opens Why Did You Hoodoo Me, we are in the
hands of a master, with founding member Kim Simmonds reigniting the seismic
vocals and searing fretwork that established Savoy Brown as linchpins of the
'60s British blues boom. "On this album, I tried my best to get my voice
in its power zone," he explains. "I'm a baritone singer. I like
listening to singers I can relate to, such as J.J. Cale, Mark Knopfler, Tony
Joe White and Tom Rush. For my guitar playing, I still get inspiration from
Otis Rush, Buddy Guy and all the Chicago players I grew up listening to back
in '63... but I always listen to new music too."
Recording alongside Pat Desalvo (bass), Garnet Grimm (drums) and
engineer Ben Elliott, Simmonds leads us into a world of dark nights, wild
weather, women and whiskey: all perennial themes given a modern twist by this
ageless bluesman. "The songs on this album have been two years in the
making," he reflects. "I tried to write songs that had a personal
point of view yet can be relatable to everyone. On Vintage Man, I wrote
about being the type of guy who doesn't change as he gets older. I wrote
about the power of love on Why Did You Hoodoo Me. And
with Guitar Slinger, I wrote a song about seeing a great guitar player
in an old country bar - as I did when I first saw Roy Buchanan in '69."
Blues is not for the faint-hearted. Since the genre first drew
breath, its greatest practitioners have embraced the darkness, spinning tales
of hardship and death, hellhounds and devilry. If the sleeve of Witchy Feelin' suggests
that Kim Simmonds, too, has a tendency towards the macabre, then Savoy
Brown's iconic leader is happy to confirm it. "Blues has always dealt
with themes of the Devil, witchcraft and so forth, and I've
always written along those lines. At least three of the songs on Witchy Feelin' have
that hoodoo vibe..."
Anyone who witnessed Savoy Brown leave the blocks in 1965 would
speak of a similar epiphany. Back then, the band were the spark that ignited
the blues-boom, signing to Decca, opening for Cream's first London show and
boasting a lead guitarist who was being namedropped in the same reverential
breath as peers like Clapton and Hendrix (with whom Simmonds jammed).
Already, the guitarist was emerging as the band's driving force. "I had
a vision," he reflects. "When I started the band back in 1965, the
concept was to be a British version of a Chicago blues band. And the exciting
thing now is, that vision is still alive."
Soon, Savoy Brown had achieved what most British bands never did
- success in America - and became a major US draw thanks to their high-energy
material and tireless work ethic. "There's far too much said about sex,
drugs and rock 'n' roll," Simmonds told Classic Rock. "It's a
cliché. We were all extremely hard-working guys. When we came over to America,
we were like a little army. I look at that time as being filled with
incredible talent."
Times changed, of course, and by 1979, Simmonds had moved from a
London he no longer recognised - "The punks were everywhere!" - to
settle permanently in New York. The Savoy Brown bandmembers came and went,
and the music scene shifted around him, but the guitarist stuck thrillingly
to his guns and reaped the rewards, performing in iconic venues like Carnegie
Hall and the Fillmore East and West, releasing thirty-odd albums, and later
enjoying a well-deserved induction into Hollywood's Rock Walk Of Fame.
Even in the post-millennium, while his peers grow soft and drift
into semi-retirement, Simmonds retains a vision and an edge, spitting out
acclaimed albums that include 2011's Voodoo Moon, 2014's Goin' To The Delta,
2015's The
Devil To Pay - and the emphatic new addition to Savoy
Brown's catalogue, Witchy
Feelin'. "I'm amazed that I still have the
energy inside me to play guitar, create music and write songs," he
considers. "I've been blessed in my life and I thank God for that. I've
never been a believer in holding on to the past - I don't look over my
shoulder and congratulate myself. I always want to climb the next mountain -
and I'm very pleased with this new album..."
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Showing posts with label Ruf Records. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ruf Records. Show all posts
Thursday, July 13, 2017
new studio album coming from seminal British blues band SAVOY BROWN
Thursday, March 23, 2017
Ruf Records artist: Thorbjorn Risager & The Black Tornado - Change My Game - New Release Review
I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Change My Game, from Thorbjorn Risager & the Black Tornado and it's very interesting. Opening with I Used To Love You, Risager sets a new stage with a calm, poised melody and rich vocals backed by Peter Skjerning on guitar, Emil Balsgaard on keys, Soren Bojgaard on bass, Martin Seidelin on drums, Hans Nybo on tenor sax, Kasper Wagner on sax and Peter Kehl on trumpet. On Funky rocker, Dreamland, the band really hits the groove and the horn section pumping up the work of Bojgaard, Seidelin and Balsgaard I really like this track. Title track, Change My Game has a solid radio format with a spunky beat, clever guitar riffs, a cool funky rhythm and cool horn punctuation. With a blues vamp platform, Risager rides high in a cool, polished blues hollar. Hold My Lover Tight is a solid rocker with a driving beat, super vocals and punchy horns. Another of my favorites. Maybe It's Alright has a universal appeal with a memorable melody, arena beat, cool guitar tones and always strong vocals. Train is a real nice modern blues rocker. With nicely paced vocals, hand claps, rhythmic guitars, tambourine and cool piano, this track is strong. Another track that I really like is ballad, Lay My Burden Down. Risager's rich vocals are really spot lighted here with this beautiful melody over mostly a orchestral accompaniment. Very nice. Wrapping the release is blues rocker, City of Love with saturated guitar, funky horns and nicely arranged vocals. Stiff footed drum work by Seidelin and grinding organ work by Balsgaard really give this track texture for soaring guitar soloing making this track a super closer.
If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! - ”LIKE”
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Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Ruf Records artist: Vanessa Collier - Meeting My Shadow - New Release Review
If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! - ”LIKE”
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“Like” Bman’s Facebook page and get support for your favorite band or venue - click HERE
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Ruf Records artist: Mike Zito - Make Blues Not War - New Release Review
If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! - ”LIKE”
For added exposure - Blues World Wide Group "LIKE"
“Like” Bman’s Facebook page and get support for your favorite band or venue - click HERE
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
STILL more media praise for bluesman Mike Zito's new album
Released on Ruf Records distributed by the In Tune Music Group
this passed November, Make
Blues Not War, is currently #1 on the Roots Music
Report's Blues chart, #7 on XM Sirius' Rack of Blues 5 weeks in. The album's
nabbed a nomination for "Best Blues Album" by New Orleans' Offbeat
Magazine.
This is blues guitar gunslinger Mike Zito's second release
 since
leaving the mighty Royal Southern Brotherhood (Cyril Neville, Devon Allman,
Yonrico Scott, Charlie Wooton). It has been getting great press coverage and
I'm including a small sampling below. It's his 13th album overall and perhaps
the most energetic of the bunch.
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Guitarist, singer and songwriter Mike Zito is one of the big
names of the blues, a former member of The Royal Southern Brotherhood, and
this is his own 13th album overall. It's not quite a back-to-basics set, but
not far off - he has the support of a trio including producer Tom Hambridge
on drums; Mike himself says that the intention was to make "a kick ass
blues-rock album", and he's succeeded. Mind you, he does play mostly 12
bar numbers here, and although some are loud (try the opener, 'Highway
Mama'), overall this reminded me of Alligator's "high-energy" sound
of the 80s - particularly Johnny Winter - brought up to date. Mike really
does rock the blues here - lend an ear to 'Chip off The Block, with his son
Zach on guitar, and that's not nepotism, he can play. Then again, other
guests include Walter Trout and harmonica ace Jason Ricci, and the two
borrowed tunes are instructive - a full-on six and a half minutes long
impassioned version of the great Luther Allison's slow West side Chicago
blues 'Bad News Is Coming' and the closing track, Clarence Garlow's 'Route
90', a rocking zydeco influenced blues taken straight (and wild!), with Kevin
McKendree supplying some fantastic boogying piano work. You might guess I
enjoyed this set - a lot!
Norman Darwen/Blues In The South January
Mike Zito has been on our radar for several years now, with his
own solo career as well as a productive stint with the Royal Southern
Brotherhood. He'd always wanted to make a fun, guitar-centric
blues-rock album, and what better place to do it than right here in Nashville
with drummer, composer, and producer extraordinaire Tom Hambridge at the
helm. The result is the blistering twelve cuts that remind us to
"Make Blues Not War," on the Ruf label.
Let's get right to the music. Leading off is the tale of
that "Highway Mama" who'll "make your motor run
wild!" Zito's all over the guitar here, as is special guest Walter Trout
on additional guitar. The biographical story of Mike's son, Zach, is
the theme of "Chip Off The Old Block," who was "bangin' on my
guitar before he could walk!" Zach's come full-circle, too, as
he's the featured guitarist on this one.
"Road Dog" is perhaps the set's most poignant
cut. It details the loneliness of life on the road thru Mike's eyes,
where "all I ever do is leave." "Redbird" is full
of Hendrixian psychedelia (and is perhaps Mike's answer to "Little Wing"),
and "Crazy Legs" choogles along at a breakneck pace and deals with
those "tight red skirts" and other things you"ll see at your
neighborhood bar!
We had two favorites, too. The title cit is a good ole
slide-guitar fest with down-home harp from guest Jason Ricci as Mike prefers
to "pass around the peace pipe" instead of fighting!
And, the set closes with an absolute rockin' road trip along "Route 0,"
name-checking everywhere from San Antone to Katy to Beaumont on the way down
to the Land Of Dreams! Kevin McKendree's piano wraps a big ole bow on
the whole thing!
With "Make Blues Not War" Mike Zito has hit on an
album that is pure fun, and serves as his reminder to himself and us fans why
he enjoys playing guitar! Peace out, Mike! Sheryl and Don Crow,
the Nashville Blues Society.
Sheryl
and Don Crow/donandsherylsbluesblog.wordpress.com/ 12/30
Mike Zito - Make Blues Not War (Ruf Records). The co-founder of
the excellent Royal Southern Brotherhood is now firmly established as a top
notch solo performer, and Zito's new Ruf CD soared into the higher reaches of
the Billboard Blues Chart on the day of its release. The Missouri-born singer
and guitarist's sterling efforts are aided and abetted here by fellow
bluesmen Walter Trout and Jason Ricci as he unveils what is arguably his
finest offering to date, blessed with muscular gems such as Highway Mama and
the harmonica-led Chicago blues of the robust title track.
Kevin Bryan/worksopguardian.co.uk 1/2
Zito proves that the blues are still a vibrant and exciting
musical genre. There is a tendency for blues music to sound very similar and
hard to distinguish individual songs. Zito completely tears that myth down on
Make Blues Not War by showing his versatility. Not only is Zito a world class
guitar player, he is a great singer. This album mixes blues with rock and
roll, southern rock and swamp rock to create an album that is infectious and
each song is distinct. Zito can sing his tail off, but every song comes back
to the guitar and his playing is smokin'.
Mike Zito is no stranger to the music business. This is the
Saint Louis native's ninth solo album. Not only has Zito had a very prolific
and successful solo career, he was a founding member of the Royal Southern
Brotherhood (2010-2014) which included the likes of Cyril Neville, Devon
Allman, Charlie Wooton, and Yonrico Scott. When he is not playing, he is also
a sought after producer.
The title track, Make Blues Not War (Track5), is a traditional
blues number that Zito takes to the third power with blazing guitar solos and
harmonica that raises the roof on this number. He pays homage to blues
legends on this song, including Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, and BB King.
The song is about peace through music. Being able to tear down barriers with
the power of song. It is a good sentiment and should be employed more often,
for sure.
Bad News Is Coming (Track 7) is a slower tempo blues number that
clocks in at six and a half minutes. It is a relatively long song but plays
like a three minute song because of Zito's outstanding guitar playing. This
song is exciting and the solos contain a lot of twists and turns to make this
song extremely interesting and one that you will want to hear over and over.
Wasted Time (Track 3) is great number similar in style to the
legendary Stevie Ray Vaughan. Zito's guitar is pretty darn good on this tune.
Although this song and the others may be about topics that are normally sad
or "blue", Zito has the ability to make these numbers uplifting and
not feel depressing or blue at all. That is a rare talent, indeed, and you
should give Make Blues Not War a serious listen.
Harry Kaplan/Twangrila.com 1/1
Singer, guitarist, and songwriter Mike Zito sure ain't kidding
when it comes to making the blues. Zito's impassioned vocals and blistering
guitar playing are red hot scorching to the point were your stereo speakers
might just be reduced to smoking embers. The stomping beats and steady tempos
slither along with breathtaking forward-ho precision. The protracted jams not
only draw out every last ounce of pure angst, but also tear into the tasty
fat pulsating grooves in an admirably savage and relentless manner. A
fantastic album.
Joe Wawrzyniak, JerseyBeat.com
An old pal of Elmore, Mike Zito, chats with senior
writer, Jim Hynes, about his new album, Make Blues Not War, and
provides a bit of career perspective as well, reflecting on his time with
Royal Southern Brotherhood, his choice to leave behind the Wheel,
the vibrant Houston music scene and, most important of all,
recruiting a key new member for his touring act.
Elmore Magazine: How does it feel to have the album out that
you've long wanted to make and see it rise immediately to #1 on the blues
Billboard chart?
Mike Zito: You know, in the roots and blues world, this is
as good as it gets. I try to put more stock into going out to play, but in
order to do it; you need to keep making records. It feels especially good for
this record, because we are not breaking any new ground. We're just cutting
loose and having fun. So, to see it be successful is like a bonus.
EM: I really liked what you were doing with the Wheel, and the
band seemed especially tight live. Why go in a different direction?
MZ: The Wheel is a great band. I'd been doing it a while, from
2012 through 2015. I enjoy being in a band, I love writing songs, playing
blues, blues-rock and playing guitar and jamming. The jamming part is not
easy to do in a band, and the Wheel didn't really like it. It got to a point where
I felt like I was fighting for space in my own project. When you've been
doing the same thing, things start to get stale at a certain level. I could
sense that, and it just seemed like it was time to take a break. Going out
and just playing guitar like I'm doing now... heck, I haven't done something
like this since the '90s.
EM: I'm curious, because your former bandmate in RSB, Devon
Allman, (and we grieve with him in the loss of his mom) also sought out Tom
Hambridge for his Ragged and Dirty album, with some inspiration
from Luther Allison. You took a similar path. Is it coincidental, or did you
and Devon talk about it?
MZ: I introduced Devon to Tom Hambridge. Tom and I have
been talking about doing this record of mine for eight years. Devon wanted to
go more in the direction of blues, but really didn't have a lot of background
and needed someone to help him. Luther Allison is my favorite artist. I was a
big fan of Ruf Records and Luther in the '90s. I have all of his records. In
fact, I always wanted to be on Ruf Records, and when I got the chance, I
encouraged my manager, Reuben Williams, to get on the label. Cyrille recorded
Luther's "You Can Run But You Can't Hide," Devon did "Ragged
and Dirty" and I just produced Big Dog for Albert
Castiglia, and he did "Drowning at the Bottom." I learned that Ruf
had two of Luther's guitars in storage in New York and one of them was a
Flying V Gibson that had been in storage for fifteen years that still had
Luther's original strings on there. That's the guitar I played on "Bad
News Coming," and also the guitar Albert used on his Luther song.
Wow! What a feeling to be playing his guitar while honoring his song.
[read the rest of the interview here:
Jim Hynes/ElmoreMagazine.com 12/15
It's not limited to drinking and losing and living life the
wrong way. Blues music can encompass any number of themes, and Mike Zito has
found an audience for his songs about sobriety and recovery.
The Texas-based blues guitarist makes a living on the road
playing blues clubs and blues festivals. But those aren't Zito's only gigs.
Because of the lack of an established blues club in several cities, today's
blues circuit might include a show at a nontraditional venue like a VFW Hall,
a golf course or a motorcycle club - anywhere a promoter can find a room. His
local show falls into the latter scenario, and it's a good match for artist
and audience.
Cincinnati.com 12/14
-----------------------------
That atmosphere of positivity began at the album sessions, as
Mike tracked alongside Grammy Award-winning producer (and co-writer) Tom
Hambridge at the Sound Stage Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. "It was so
much fun," Zito remembers. "It's a completely live album, where the
musicians all set up and we just hit record and went for it. The energy was
awesome and sometimes we'd just be laughing so hard because it was all so
intense and exciting."
As the momentum gathered, the songs coalesced with an
awesome flow, Mike painting in every shade of blue, from the frantic
six-string showboating of "Crazy Legs" to the growling slow-burn of
"Red Bird" and the smoky slide work on "Girl Back Home."
"It was time," he says, "to get back to the blues and playing
my guitar. Tom and I had spoken about making a kick ass blues-rock album for
years. I like having fun and cutting loose - that's what this album is all
about. "Chip Off The Block" was written for my oldest son, Zach
Zito, who is the featured guitarist on this track. It's his first
introduction into the music world and he did a great job. I couldn't be more
proud of him. He graduates college next spring and joins me on tour in summer
- I can't wait."
Meanwhile in his lyrics Mike searches for the silver linings in
a troubled world. "I love writing songs and sharing deep feelings,"
he says. Zito describes "Road Dog," the album's wistful slow-blues
travelogue as, "the most serious tune on the album. It's about the drama
of life on the road. I know it can seem clichéd sometimes, but it's the life
I lead. I miss my family, miss my wife, but this is what I do. I always
leave."
Mike has spent over two decades on the run. He grew up in a
hard-scrabble, blue-collar home in St. Louis, but after an early job at a
downtown guitar shop exposed him to heavyweights like B.B. King, the Allmans
and Eric Clapton (then the music of Joe Pass, Robert Johnson and Blind Willie
Johnson), he set out to establish himself as a working musician. By 1997,
Mike had released debut album Blue
Room, and seemed to be going places. "The first time you
hear yourself," he recalls, "you think, 'Wow, that almost sounds
like music!'"
Then came the bumps in the road. By the early 2000's, alcoholism
and drug abuse were threatening to rob Zito of his livelihood and talent, a
period starkly addressed on the title track from 2011's acclaimed Greyhound
album. "I just couldn't stop," he admits. "And a lot of the
opportunities that I had back then - they kinda went away."
Thankfully, the epiphany of meeting the woman who would become
his beloved wife put Mike back on the right path. In 2012, he found fresh
inspiration as a member of the A-list lineup of Royal Southern
Brotherhood, then struck out with acclaimed solo albums Gone To Texas
(2013) and Keep
Coming Back (2015).
"I have many more hurdles to jump and more goals to strive
for," he says, "but I'm very pleased and thankful with how I'm
developing as an artist." This is powerfully demonstrated on Make Blues Not War,
another step forward for this long-suffering disciple of the Blues. "I'm
so proud of this new album," says Mike. "It's about the enjoyment I
get when I listen to Johnny Winter and Muddy Waters, Stevie Ray Vaughan and
Luther Allison. Their music makes me happy and reminds why I wanted to play
guitar and play the blues. To be free and honest, loud and proud. I hope
everyone enjoys listening to this album as much as I enjoyed making
it..."
Modern life moves fast. Rolling news. Rapid-fire tweets. A
relentless barrage of (mis)information. Make Blues Not War is an album that
demands you sign out, log off and turn yourself over instead to the
old-fashioned pleasures of great music. "We hear about everything 24/7
now," says Mike Zito. "The news never stops and it's all become
propaganda. But when you turn off the news and turn on some blues, the world
is a beautiful place. I think music is the cure for all ailments. Always has
been. Always will be."
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Wednesday, December 14, 2016
more media praise forbluesman Mike Zito's new album
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Howlin'
Wuelf Media
 |
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Released on Ruf Records distributed by the In Tune Music Group
last month, Make
Blues Not War, gets knocked out of the #1 slot on XM
Sirius' Rack of Blues by... The Rolling Stones (well, hell!) and but UP to #2
on UK's Roots Music Report. The album hangs on in the Top 10 of Billboard's
Blues sales chart trailing The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt and
the like (not bad company to keep!)
This is blues guitar gunslinger Mike Zito's second release
since
leaving the mighty Royal Southern Brotherhood (Cyril Neville, Devon Allman,
Yonrico Scott, Charlie Wooton). It has been getting great press coverage and
I'm including a small sampling below. It's his 13th album overall and perhaps
the most energetic of the bunch. I'm hoping you'll consider covering via
feature or album review. Please let me know if you need a DL, CD or stream.
-------------------
Produced by Tom Hambridge, Make Blues Not
War showcases Mike Zito at his most passionate. It's a string of loose,
in-the-moment, energetic performances of some of the most pleasurable blues
you've heard in a long time.
Pay special attention to the title track. It begins with a
brooding, pouting stance, then develops into a smolder and by the end it has
become a vocal fire. On the rest of the album, Zito comes across like a guy
who just got the keys to a new car called music; he tests and pushes it to
the limit and has a blast. You will too.
Greg Victor/ParkBench.live 11/28
Mike Zito worked ten years at a downtown St. Louis guitar shop
where an older employee taught him an appreciation for The Allman Brothers,
Eric Clapton and B.B. King. He released "Blue Room" his
first independently produced album in 1997. Follow up albums included
1999's "America's Most Wanted"; 2004's "Slow It
Down"; and 2006's "Superman".
Zito acknowledges that there were "bumps in the road";
that he previously had bouts with alcoholism. Many of his songs are about
redemption and Zito credits much of his recovery to meeting his wife.
Zito came to the attention of Delta Groove's Randy Chortkoff who
was just starting the Eclecto Groove label. Zito's first internationally
distributed album "Today", co-produced by David Z. and Tony
Braunagel, was released in 2008. The follow-up recording "Pearl
River" included the title track co-written with Cyril Neville. That
song won "Song of The Year" at the 2010 Blues Music
Awards. Zito's 2011 "Greyhound" also received a BMA
nomination.
Zito, Neville, and Devon Allman co-founded "The Royal
Southern Brotherhood" in 2012; and together they released two
studio albums and one live recording resulting in another Blues Music Award.
In 2013 Zito formed a new band "The Wheel" and
released "Gone to Texas" on the Ruf Records imprint. By
2014 Zito announced he was leaving RSB in order to tour with his own band.
This is Zito's thirteenth album overall and second studio
recording since leaving RSB. His last album was 2015's "Keep Coming
Back". The band on this new recording includes Zito, guitar and vocals;
producer Tom Hambridge, drums; Tommy MacDonald, bass; and Rob McNelley whose
credits include both Delbert McClinton and Bob Seger, guitar.
The opening track "Highway Mama" features
the screeching guitars of Zito; McNelley and special guest Walter Trout.
Zito's vocal is equally commanding. Keyboardist Kevin McKendree is featured
on both piano and B-3. It is the first of five songs written by producer
Hambridge and his regular writing partner Richard Fleming. Other songs
written by them include "Redbird" with some fantastic
drumming from Hambridge; "On The Road"; "Girl Back
Home" with great guitar from Zito; and "Chip Off The
Block" featuring Zito's son Zach on guitar "the apple don't
fall far from the tree".
Zito has written the delta styled title track "Make
Blues Not War" with Hambridge. It features Jason Ricci, winner of
the 2010 BMA for "Best Instrumentalist - Harmonica". Ricci appears
again on the Rolling Stones sounding "One More
Train" co-written by Zito with both Hambridge and Fleming. The trio
has also written "Wasted Time"; the humorous "Crazy
Legs" and the autobiographical "Road Dog".
There are also two great covers. "Bad News is
Coming" was written and recorded by Luther Allison and is the title
track off of Allison's 1973 Motown Records album.
"Route 90" was written by Clarence J. Garlow,
a.k.a. "Bon Ton" Garlow whom also authored the
classic "Bon Ton Roulet". "Route 90" was
previously recorded by both Johnny Winter on his 1985 "Serious
Business" recording and by Gary Primich on his 1995
album "Mr. Freeze".
Zito's guitar work is always great and his vocals are the best
they've been. Zito states "when you turn off the news and turn on the
blues the world is a beautiful place". This fine blues rock album is
sure to win Zito some additional accolades.
Richard Ludmerer/MakingAScene.org 12/13
Royal Southern Brotherhood alumnus Mike Zito has a new record
called Make Blues Not War. Despite that cutesy political
title, Make Blues Not War is far from some kind of serious
political statement. Audiences can rest easy that this is the fun
southern tinged blues rock that they have come to expect from Mr. Zito.
This latest set from Zito produced by Tom Hambridge (Buddy
Guy, Joe Louis Walker, George Thorogood etc...) kicks off with the rocking
"Highway Mama" and also features blues legend Walter Trout on
guitar keeping pace with Zito's screaming vocals. The next couple of
tracks keep the rocking blues thumping in much the same vein. The title track
is a more traditional blues with Mike on slide guitar. The slow blues
"Bad News is Coming" features organ and piano, and "One More
Train" has some interesting boogie piano work. "Chip Off the Old
Block" tells the story of Mike's son who grew up listening to the
blues and features him playing guitar with his father. The album closes with
boogie piano infused "Route 90," with Zito riffing away like a
modern day Chuck Berry.
Make Blues Not War seems like a natural progress from
Zito's work with the Royal Southern Brotherhood as well as his other solo
material. If you are a Mike Zito fan then this is definitely a record that
you will want in your collection.
Lou Lombardi/BlueRockReview.com 12/8
In some ways, Mike Zito's show next week at The Rude Dog Pub
will be a homecoming. Although Zito grew up around St. Louis, he used to be a
Cape Girardean himself.
But that was a long time ago -- more than a decade -- and the
chart-topping bluesman said he was a different person then.
"I was a really bad drug addict," he said. "I
mean, it was really bad; I was kind of wreaking havoc."
He left Cape Girardeau in the early 2000s, only to find himself,
as they say, at rock bottom.
He described that period of his life on his blog, Bluesman in
Recovery.
"Ten years ago, I did not own a guitar. I had pawned them
all for drug money," he wrote in 2013. "I did not have a home,
could not see my kids ... I was hopeless."
Getting clean, he figured, would mean more than giving up using.
It would mean giving up music, too.
"I was so bad off, I thought, 'Well, that's fine. I need to
save my life,'" he said.
Somewhere, he said, when he fell for the blues, he also bought
into a dangerously misguided mythos -- that for a person to really play the
blues, he had to feel the blues. And to really feel the blues, he had to be
miserable, using, destitute or all three.
"You know, Stevie Ray Vaughan said the same thing ... but
it's so ridiculous. That's such a crazy notion," he said. "But I
was 20 years old, and all my heroes died of overdoses."
But that's not the way it works, he found.
"I learned if you're spiritually fit, you can go
anywhere," he said. Now, instead of temptation, he said, rocking a bar
show helps him stay sober.
"God is good, and life is weird," he blogged.
And if he's returning to Cape Girardeau with a better grasp on
life, his accomplishments career-wise have been equally profound.
In November, his newest album, "Make Blues Not War,"
took the top slot of the Billboard blues chart over records by Joe Bonamassa,
Melissa Etheridge and Eric Clapton himself.
"Today, as corny as it sounds, with the new album I'm
celebrating," he said. "Now is just the right time. I'm back on my
own with a blues album out, so when I saw we were going to be going through
the Midwest, I said, 'I gotta go back to Cape and play.'"
Especially, he said, at The Rude Dog Pub.
"I've played at The Rude Dog so many times," he said.
"It's such a great, fun bar. We've been all over, and there's not a lot
of times we get to set up on the floor right by the door like that."
And while he has fans around the country, Zito said Cape
Girardeau stands out.
"Everyone's so awesome to me there," he said.
"It's really fun to come back and see everybody."
He said the show isn't about taking yourself too seriously.
"Sometimes music doesn't have to be so serious," he
said. "Some of the greatest music we listen to is just fun."
The show will start at 8 p.m. Thursday.
"Robert Johnson. Muddy waters said it, too. B.B. King
showed the world that blues is good for you," Zito sings on the title
track from the new album.
And if anyone should know the positive, transformative power of
the blues, it's Zito.
Tyler Graef/Southeast Missourian 12/9
-------------------
That atmosphere of positivity began at the album sessions, as
Mike tracked alongside Grammy Award-winning producer (and co-writer) Tom
Hambridge at the Sound Stage Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. "It was so
much fun," Zito remembers. "It's a completely live album, where the
musicians all set up and we just hit record and went for it. The energy was
awesome and sometimes we'd just be laughing so hard because it was all so
intense and exciting."
As the momentum gathered, the songs coalesced with an awesome
flow, Mike painting in every shade of blue, from the frantic six-string
showboating of "Crazy Legs" to the growling slow-burn of "Red
Bird" and the smoky slide work on "Girl Back Home." "It
was time," he says, "to get back to the blues and playing my
guitar. Tom and I had spoken about making a kick ass blues-rock album for
years. I like having fun and cutting loose - that's what this album is all
about. "Chip Off The Block" was written for my oldest son, Zach
Zito, who is the featured guitarist on this track. It's his first
introduction into the music world and he did a great job. I couldn't be more
proud of him. He graduates college next spring and joins me on tour in summer
- I can't wait."
Meanwhile in his lyrics Mike searches for the silver linings in
a troubled world. "I love writing songs and sharing deep feelings,"
he says. Zito describes "Road Dog," the album's wistful slow-blues
travelogue as, "the most serious tune on the album. It's about the drama
of life on the road. I know it can seem clichéd sometimes, but it's the life
I lead. I miss my family, miss my wife, but this is what I do. I always leave."
Mike has spent over two decades on the run. He grew up in a
hard-scrabble, blue-collar home in St. Louis, but after an early job at a
downtown guitar shop exposed him to heavyweights like B.B. King, the Allmans
and Eric Clapton (then the music of Joe Pass, Robert Johnson and Blind Willie
Johnson), he set out to establish himself as a working musician. By 1997,
Mike had released debut album Blue
Room, and seemed to be going places. "The first time you
hear yourself," he recalls, "you think, 'Wow, that almost sounds
like music!'"
Then came the bumps in the road. By the early 2000's, alcoholism
and drug abuse were threatening to rob Zito of his livelihood and talent, a
period starkly addressed on the title track from 2011's acclaimed Greyhound
album. "I just couldn't stop," he admits. "And a lot of the
opportunities that I had back then - they kinda went away."
Thankfully, the epiphany of meeting the woman who would become
his beloved wife put Mike back on the right path. In 2012, he found fresh inspiration
as a member of the A-list lineup of Royal Southern Brotherhood, then
struck out with acclaimed solo albums Gone
To Texas (2013) and Keep
Coming Back (2015).
"I have many more hurdles to jump and more goals to strive
for," he says, "but I'm very pleased and thankful with how I'm
developing as an artist." This is powerfully demonstrated on Make Blues Not War,
another step forward for this long-suffering disciple of the Blues. "I'm
so proud of this new album," says Mike. "It's about the enjoyment I
get when I listen to Johnny Winter and Muddy Waters, Stevie Ray Vaughan and
Luther Allison. Their music makes me happy and reminds why I wanted to play
guitar and play the blues. To be free and honest, loud and proud. I hope
everyone enjoys listening to this album as much as I enjoyed making
it..."
Modern life moves fast. Rolling news. Rapid-fire tweets. A
relentless barrage of (mis)information. Make Blues Not War is an album that
demands you sign out, log off and turn yourself over instead to the old-fashioned
pleasures of great music. "We hear about everything 24/7 now," says
Mike Zito. "The news never stops and it's all become propaganda. But
when you turn off the news and turn on some blues, the world is a beautiful
place. I think music is the cure for all ailments. Always has been. Always
will be."
|
Friday, September 16, 2016
Ruf Records artist: Laurence Jones - Take Me High - New Release Review
If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! - ”LIKE”
For added exposure - Blues World Wide Group "LIKE"
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Ruf Records artist: Ina Forsman - Self Titled - New Release Review
If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! - ”LIKE”
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Tuesday, August 2, 2016
Ruf Records artist: Layla Zoe - Breaking Free - New Release Review
If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! - ”LIKE”
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Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Ruf Records artist: Royal Southern Brotherhood - The Royal Gospel - New Release Review
If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! - ”LIKE”
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Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Ruf Records artists: Honey Island Swamp Band - Demolition Day - New release review
If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! - ”LIKE”
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Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Royal Southern Brotherhood: THE ROYAL GOSPEL: OUT JUNE 24
Royal Southern Brotherhood:
Comes A Musical
Sermon
About Love, Unity,
And Peace
THE ROYAL
GOSPEL: Recorded at Dockside
Produced by
David Z
Out June 24 On Ruf Records
“The whole record is geared towards making a
joyful noise,” says Neville
Chemistry. You either got
it, or you don’t. When the five members of Royal Southern Brotherhood convened
in February 2016 at Dockside Studios, Louisiana, there was magic in the air. Just
seven days later, the acclaimed U.S. soul-blues collective emerged triumphant
with The Royal Gospel: the fourth album in their rocket-heeled
rise and further proof of a lineup born to play together.
Enough has been said about
Royal Southern Brotherhood’s illustrious backstory. Enough has been written
about the critical acclaim and sell-out crowds that greeted the original
lineup’s 2012 breakout. Right now, fans would rather hear about the questing
new material and finger-on-pulse worldview of The Royal Gospel,
released 2016 on Ruf Records. Amen to that.
Like all the best groups,
Royal Southern Brotherhood has evolved. Having bonded on 2015’s Don’t
Look Back, the MkII lineup of Cyril Neville (percussion/vocals), Bart
Walker (guitar/vocals), Tyrone Vaughan (guitar/vocals) and Yonrico Scott
(drums) have found another gear on bolstered by new recruit Darrell Philips
(bass/vocals),and guest B3 from Norman Caesar.
“As far as the men
making the music and playing the songs,” says Neville, “the mission of the band
has never changed.”
Scan the credits for The
Royal Gospel and you’ll recognize that while some bands operate a
songwriting dictatorship, this one thrives on material penned in partnership
(or even originated between three members). Neville is as prolific as you’d
expect – given the fistful of projects he’s kept spinning over the decades –
but so too are Walker and Vaughan, who collaborated remotely with their
bandleader, trading ideas back-and-forth via the Web.
“It’s not often that
you find a connection like Cyril and me,” explains Walker, whose Nashville home
is some 800 miles from Neville’s base in New Orleans. “It got to the point
where we were almost in each other’s heads – and we had already worked out what
the other one was gonna say.”
“It’s a very spiritual
thing,” agrees Neville. “I kinda laughed, because Bart was getting ahead of
what I was even thinking. Last time, we actually got together in the room to do
the demos. This time, it was all done by iPhone and stuff like that. But when
you taste this musical gumbo, you’re gonna be very satisfied. However we
approached the kitchen.”
When the band and famed
producer David Z arrived at Dockside, the recording ethos was unapologetically
old-school: simply cut the songs live in the room, eyeball-to-eyeball, in a
minimum of takes. “We walked in not really knowing what we were gonna do,”
recalls Philips. “Cyril and Bart come to us with chord progressions, tempos,
and ideas, and we build together. We’d just fall right into the thing and all
of a sudden, there’s the song. On this record, we came together as a band. It
was a magical thing to witness.”
Likewise, it’s a magical
album to hear. The Royal Gospel opens in emphatic style with “Where
There’s Smoke There’s Fire”: a stinging statement of intent co-written by
Neville and Vaughan, whose hard-rock riffing is tempered by a vocal addressing
a woman with “the face of an angel, a body that’s divine”. That same writing
duo also strikes gold on “Can’t Waste Time”, its descending guitar hook fused
to a lyric about a two-faced lover (“Girl, you’re like a ship without a
rudder”).
Fans of the Brotherhood’s
bluesier side will relish the rolling rhythms of “Spirit Man”, and hit repeat
for “I’m Comin’ Home”, with its molten slide-guitar solo and travelogue lyric
(“The road just goes on and on”). Elsewhere, Walker and Neville are at their
soulful best on “Blood Is Thicker Than Water”, the veteran bandleader singing
that “there’s nothing more sacred than the love of a son or daughter”, over a
groove sure to shake the room as the band tour the world through 2016. “It’s
extremely groove-orientated, this stuff,” nods Walker.
The Royal Gospel might
move your feet, but it’s not afraid to challenge your perceptions.
“The whole record is geared
toward making a joyful noise,” says Neville, “but while we’re partying, we
still need to be thinking about what’s going on around us. It covers what we’ve
seen in our travels over the last few years, and what we’ve lived personally as
citizens of the world.”
Case in point, “Hooked On
The Plastic” is an irresistible funk workout with soul-drenched backup vocals,
but also a razor-sharp critique of consumerism (“Livin’ way above your means…
no end to the stream of green”). And stick around for closing track “Stand Up”.
A joyous call-to-arms in the face of feckless modern politicians, it ends with
an electrifying outro, the band building to a dizzying crescendo while Neville
hollers a global message to take a stand: “Come together! Come
together!”
It’s a thrilling finale to
an album that cements Royal Southern Brotherhood’s reputation as a modern band
to treasure. This is The Royal Gospel. Consider us converted.
Only an elite group of players can be in a band like RSB, for it calls for
supreme musical chops, soul giving and a little voodoo for each night the bar
is raised.
Is it spiritual? Yes. Is it
hell-raising? Yes Ma’am. Is it soul-grabbing? Yes Sir.
Get in line to be healed.
The holy water is ready – are you?
Follow
the on all their social media platforms:
Twitter
– @RoyalSouthern
Instagram
- @royalsouthernbrotherhood
The Gospel Tour
06/03/16
Mandeville,
LA
Ruby’s Roadhouse
06/04/16
Ocean Springs, MS Ocean
Springs Live!
06/09/16
Denver,
CO
The Oriental Theater
06/10/16
Colorado Springs,
CO
Stargazers Theatre
06/11/16
Aspen, CO
Snowmass Free Summer Concerts
06/14/16
Lincoln,
NE
Zoo Bar
06/15/16
Wichita, KS
Barleycorn’s
06/16/16
Tulsa,
OK
Shrine
06/17/16
Topeka,
KS
Uncle Bo’s
06/18/16
Kansas City,
MO
CrossroadsKC
06/24/16
Norfolk,
VA
Bayou Boogaloo
07/08/16
Auburn Hills, MI
Callahan’s
07/09/16
Kalamazoo, MI
Kalamazoo Valley Blues Festival
07/10/16
Evanston,
IL
SPACE
07/14/16
Madison,
WI
La Fete de Marquette
07/15/16
South Bend, IN
Vegetable Buddies
07/16/16
Milwaukee,
WI
Bastille Day Festival
07/30/16
Pomeroy,
OH
Big Bend Blues Bash
08/06/16
Burnaby,
BC
Burnaby Blues Festival Canada
08/12/16
Calabogie
Calabogie Blues & Ribfest Canada
08/13/16
Québec
Donnacona Blues
Festival
Canada
08/20/16
Calabogie,
OH
Calabogie Blues – Blues & Ribfest
09/10/16
Las Vegas,
NV
Big Blues Bender
09/11/16
Las Vegas,
NV
Big Blues Bender
10/30/16
Lake Harmony,
PA
Pennsylvania Music Festival
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